Broken Perfection
by Chemistry-Deaf
Summary: Imperfect Cell went back in time to another timeline after taking Trunks out to achieve his Perfection. Like many in the multiverse stories, a change caused a new timeline to derived from the original 4. This Cell was smarter and managed to kill one and wounded several others in the Z fighters as he achieved his final form of Perfection. Join the retelling of Cell Saga.
1. Ch 1: Timeline Travel

**Ch 1: Timeline Travel and Piccolo's ****Encounter**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DRAGON BALL OR DRAGON BALL Z NOR DO I MAKE A PROFIT FROM THIS STORY. **

**Chemistry-Deaf:** This idea came to me while I was working on Chapter 3 for Demonic Potara Earrings.

* * *

I am the greatest creation by Dr. Gero. I will become the perfect being. To do my master's wish, I have to find Android 17 and 18. With my small insect body, I scurried around the countryside, looking for my prey. When I found them, I was sorely disappointed. The Androids were destroyed, from what I could detect, from the inside. Upset that I couldn't achieve my dream, I looked for answers. I found him by accident.

A tall boy with lavender hair was telling a woman with blue hair about how successful the control button thing destroyed the Androids. From her reaction, he probably told her so many times. He wanted to go back to another timeline to tell whoever how successful it was. Hope enlightened inside me when I heard of the possibility of Androids. Sneakily, I followed the excited boy to a cool device, the time machine. He got in and was programming something. He was unsuspecting of my presence as I crawled on the machine.

I made a noise to grab his attention. He turned at the noise and messed up the desired time. He got out and caught sight of me crawling around. I readied a mouth blast to take his head when he appeared. He never knew what hit him. I crawled back to the machine. I have no idea if the time was right or not, but it seemed appropriate. I pressed the start button and held on tight.

It was a bizarre sight to see. I really have no idea where I am or what time. I have no idea how to open the door, but I didn't care. There's no need for me to return to my correct timeline. I blasted the glass hood dome above me and crawled out. If I were going to get those Androids, I need to grow in strength and height. That meant, I need substance. Lucky for me, I was in a forest. Plenty of plants and animals for me to eat.

I didn't expect the difficulty of hunting. My reserves were enough to keep me alive for months, but to grow and live longer, I need to eat. I have no idea how long it took me to reach adult phase. Being a bug-like thing, I had to shed my outer skin whenever it gotten hard to move or growing larger. My recollection of that was fifteen times before I became fully grown.

I was ready for the next phase: energy gathering. I searched out for a closest area populated by humans. Quietly, I arrived to a small quiet town. The night had fallen, and I can collect my prey with ease. By morning, everyone in the town became my power. I left the scene to hunt down more. The next town was bigger and busier. It wasn't long when everyone was busy trying to escape from me. I relished the chase.

The sun was starting to come down when my acute hearing caught a machine noise. I was draining a male in his thirties when I looked over to the noise. The machine noise stopped and changed to sounds of footsteps and soft whir and hums of smaller machines. I was done with the human and was about to go over to check it out when I heard a gun. Bullets bounced off me harmlessly as I knocked my attacker to unconsciousness. That attracted whoever that arrived.

I jumped on top of a roof and watched them arrive. I slipped down the street behind them and crept behind a guy with something on his shoulder. The guy that was talking turned around and said, "I'm going to try to get as close-". He stopped when he saw me right behind the guy in front of me. His eyes widened in shock as I crushed the man. The machine smashed on the pavement. He screamed as I quickly knocked them unconscious.

A girl watched me as I finished absorbing them. Her whimpering caught my attention, and I was quick in knocking her out. I sensed someone arriving and turned. A green skinned being with purple gi, white cape and turban landed in front of me. He turned as he said, "So, you've finally shown yourself, ... monster." When he saw me, he looked shocked. I wasn't sure what he was shocked about. Don't I look like a monster he called me? His eyes moved to my hand where the girl limped from my hand. "I don't know if you understand me, but release her. She does deserve to live."

Why do they needed to live? What purpose did they serve? I pushed my curiosity away and replied, "Then, in her place, I will absorb you, Piccolo Daimao." I let her fall to the pavement.

Another shock covered his features before he asked, "H-how did you know my name?! What are you?!"

"Does it matter, Piccolo?" I asked him as I felt a smirk on my face. "I'm going to enjoy consuming you." Piccolo was going to say something, but I wasn't in the mood to continue this discussion. Instead I launched a surprise punch on him. It amused me seeing Piccolo looking stunned as he stumbled back a few feet. Those two towns of energy may give me a chance defeating him. In my excitement, I underestimated his speed and power when his punch send me flying backwards. I crashed into the wall of the house behind me.

I scrambled around for a hiding place. As soon as I hid myself, Piccolo burst down the door and stormed in. "Come on out! Before I decided to blast this house down!" I smirked as I slowly lift a finger at him. The glow of ki from my finger caught his attention and shout out in surprise as multiple ki beams flew toward him. I knew it wouldn't do much damage. After the smoke cleared, I was confirmed right. Piccolo's shoulder weights broke and the top part of his clothes were burned, but he looked fine. Piccolo glared at me.

I gave him a mocking smile as I flew up through the roof. I heard him yell something at me as I slipped into another house. It won't be long for him to find me, so I started to charge an attack he would know. This time, Piccolo broke through the same window I did. His angry expression was replaced by recognition by my stance. With the two fingers on my forehead, I smirked at him. I quickly pointed them at him and said, "Special Beam Cannon!"

Piccolo barely moved out of the way of the deathly spiral. As soon as the blast went passed him, I moved closer and kicked him outside. He stopped himself in the air and deflected my punch. He followed up with a kick. I landed on the roof and managed to dodge his next attack. I couldn't escape his watchful eyes as he started to land powerful punches and kicks. Thinking quickly, I used eye beam to distract him and slipped out of his field of vision. Using my chance, I knocked him to the ground. I followed it up with a knee on his open back and held him there. My tail was ready for action.

I aimed to near center of Piccolo's back and neck. The point dug deep; I could feel his energy and substance going through my tail and into me. When I said I would enjoy consuming him, I was right. The power of the Namekian was filling me up. It felt like a rich strong healthy meal compared all those weak humans. I did hear Piccolo screaming from the pain and tried to throw me off with a burst of ki. I felt it and would have been thrown off if I weren't draining his energy.

I foolishly did not pay attention to my surroundings as I draining his life away. He tried a few twist to throw me off, each was weaker than the last until he stopped moving. The moment that happened, a flash of light alerted me. In front of me was a young teen with a sword. He swung it at me. I was surprised by his sudden appearance that his blade cut my chest. I leaped back as the pain came. My tail came out of the dying body. A whir alerted my ears, and I saw a disc of energy coming at my side. I ducked. My tail got nicked when my motion caused my tail to move too close to the disc.

I recognized the disc was from Krillin who was at the scene. My blood was seeping out of the two wounds as I watched them. I could easily kill Krillin, but the lavender haired boy seemed strong. I decided that I had enough at the moment and placed my hands near my head. Krillin eyes nearly popped out when he recognized it. "Solar Flare!" As they stood blinded, I remembered the girl and grabbed her as I ran off.

I kept my power level low and kept a watch to their position. Once they were gone with Piccolo, I absorbed the girl. Leaving her clothes there, I searched for another town to be my victim.

* * *

It was awful. Seeing Piccolo in that state was chilling. I glanced at Trunks who looked determined to have that monster pay. The shrivel form of Piccolo was carried by Trunks. Piccolo may not last very long, and I was worried about Gohan. We arrived to the Turtle House to bring the bad news. If this happened around the time when everyone didn't trust Piccolo, the range of reaction would be much greater. I did expect Gohan to be the most devastated by the news while the rest of us look very solemn about losing him. I was surprised that Chi-Chi looked upset about this as well. I knew how much she hated him. Did she sort of grew on him while he stayed with the family?

Trunks laid Piccolo down gently on the floor. Everyone gathered around him as Piccolo struggled to breathe. Gohan dropped by his side in shock and was the first one to touch him. Piccolo forced his closed eyes to open and glanced at him. He tried to say something, but his voice wasn't working properly. He settled on saying "Gohan." Gohan burst into tears and cried on his formerly strong shoulder. Weakly, he brought up his hand to Gohan's head. We stayed with him till Piccolo breathed out his last breath. When Gohan realized what happened, he gave out the loudest yell I ever heard from him. It was comparable to the first time Piccolo died.

What happened next shocked everyone including me. I never seen Goku turn Super Saiyan for the first time because I was the cause of it. Here Gohan was, his ki was skyrocketing. I have no idea what sort of thoughts that could have ran through his mind as his black hair flickered gold a few times before standing on ends in pure blond. Chi-Chi gasped at the transformation of her sweet kind son to a raging golden boy. Gohan vowed revenge against the monster for what he done and was about to rush out. Trunks immediately went super saiyan to stop him and had to restrain him since he won't listen to reason.

It didn't take long for Gohan to run out of steam and lost his Super Saiyan. He ended up crying himself to sleep. Chi-Chi took him and brought him to a spare room. Meanwhile, we felt Vegeta's ki coming very fast. He must have sensed Gohan's momentary burst of Super Saiyan. Behind him was Tien. As they arrived, they found Piccolo dead. Outside of Trunks and I seeing the monster and what he did, we have nothing to go on. The monster's goal, name, ability, and history was unknown to us.

One thing I was annoyed of was Vegeta's cocky attitude. He was very sure of himself that he could defeat that monster in a heartbeat, but he would train to surpass the Super Saiyan. After confirming it to himself more than to us, he left for training. As the silence stretched, I started to think about 18. She's out there somewhere with 16 and 17. Probably doing their own version of trashing the place. Yamcha had turned on the television to hear the news about that strange monster.

Unexpectedly, he was moving to different towns each farther from the last. What was strange about the whole thing was the number. The first one we heard on the news mentioned him nearly wiping out the town. As we got to the seventh town or so, the number had decreased to 10 or even 5. We had no idea what he's doing or thinking. Somehow, the reporters got lucky that some people had cameras with them and took a picture of the monster. The news reporter had chosen the best image received and spread word of his appearance.

Gohan had woken and looked dead to the world. It was a strange feeling seeing the kind cheerful boy turned into a very quiet calculating child. He had came down during the 5th town disaster and looked solemnly at the screen. I was the closet to the stairs, so I noticed him coming. The moment that monster's image came on, I heard Gohan said, "You will pay, monster," to himself. I hoped he would feel better when Goku wakes up. This wasn't Gohan.

The news changed as the monster stopped attacking. When he will attack again was unknown to all of us. Everything seemed to turn upside-down for the worst. Speaking of worst, the Androids were on the news. They had stolen a company car and driving around, disobeying the laws of our society. Little did I know that the next few days was nerve wracking with waiting. It was briefly broken by Goku waking up earlier than expected.

He heard our story about the death of Piccolo, the new threat, and Gohan's transformation to Super Saiyan. He tried to comfort Gohan but was rejected. Chi-Chi had been trying for a day and a half, and she hoped seeing her husband would lightened Gohan. Gohan gave a small weary smile to him, and his behavior didn't change. Instead, he looked all the more determined. Goku had came up with a plan and told us about it. Using the HTC, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, and Goku would use it to get stronger faster.

To nobody surprise, we agreed to it. Chi-Chi tried to complain, but Gohan stopped her. She still couldn't believe the boy was her Gohan, and he doesn't need her to protect him. As soon Goku left via IT with Gohan and Trunks, everyone let out a breath. Who knew that tension in the air was higher with Gohan around? The news notified us about the Androids and the hunt for the monster. The monster hadn't attacked any towns lately. Little did we know just how close he really was to the Turtle House.

* * *

I feel great, wonderful, exhilarating, and sick. Yes, the last part was true. The massive power boost from Piccolo made each human energy added felt tiny and insignificant. This wasn't what caused me to feel sick. Absorbing them in small numbers didn't affect me at all. It's when I tried to absorb the whole town in an hour or so. I would felt great when I got them all that I would rush to the next town. Along the way, a twisted feeling would slowly appear around where my stomach was.

I ignored it and started my attack on the next town. I barely got all of them when I felt like throwing up. I had to leave in a hurry just in case those fighters decided to show up. I had no idea what was wrong with me. By the time I got to a safe hiding place, I feel severely ill with cold sweat. I curled up to ease the pain and waited for it to pass. I have no idea why I continue to absorb those people. I had great power boost, but I seemed to fear it wasn't enough. After the seventh town or so, I couldn't handle the side effect and stopped.

With nothing better to do, I made way to where they were residing. I sensed three with very high power levels, a fourth not as strong, and several puny power levels that I couldn't count how many. I recognized one of them to be Krillin who attacked me some days before. The boy with lavender hair wasn't there, but it didn't concern me. I hoped absorbing them would be better than those weaklings.

* * *

**A/N:** Cell came to the timeline between the first arrival of Trunks and the second. Therefore, the timelines are very similar to the cannon version.


	2. Ch 2: Androids meet Cell

**Ch 2: Androids meet Cell****  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DRAGON BALL OR DRAGON BALL Z NOR DO I MAKE A PROFIT FROM THIS STORY. **

**Chemistry-Deaf:** Now, we are in the second chapter. Sorry it took so long. College was busy, making sure the story flows well, and finding people liking the story!

* * *

This was horribly dull. My idiotic twin brother of mine just had to get a car. Now it will take forever to find him. Of course, my clothes were torn from the battle with blonde Vegeta, and I demanded that I get new clothes. If he wanted to waste time with driving around, then I can do the same with clothes shopping. With that, we arrived to a clothes shop in the outskirts. Their selection and taste of clothing was terrible, but I managed to find a suitable one that I wouldn't mind wearing for a while.

I walked out with the outfit of what appears to be a cowgirl type clothing. It came in two pieces, the top covered my shoulders and my breast while the bottom was a miniskirt. Both were brown with some kind of a burnt design on the left hand side. The second design was long narrow strips right next to each other around my breast and the bottom of the miniskirt. My ripped navy clothes were worn under them. I heard the shop keeper shout out about paying, but I ignored him. I got in the car and, we hit off the road again. Because I didn't pay, the cops showed up. I was quick in dispatching them because it was my mess, and I wasn't driving.

After staring at the road for so long and seeing some cars, I realized 17, my twin brother, had stopped the car. He was admiring the view of the country side the mountain road provided before he decide to drive the car of all its fuel. 16, a robot we picked up from Dr. Gero's lab, was in the back seat of the car watching us bicker.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked him.

"Well, sis, I wanted to see the view from here and figure out where to go," he replied.

"So, we are lost."

"I didn't say that. It's not like we needed things like these humans do."

"This car needed fuel more than we do. If you drive this hunk of metal around, we would run out of gas before we find this damn guy."

"You're no fun." He started the car, moved into the lane, and caused another one behind us to swerve and swear at us. "Do you think Goku might be around here near that city?"

"I have no idea. I'm sure we can check it out."

"His house is in a small house near the mountain village in the 439th district of the eastern region," 16 told us.

"Did Dr. Gero told you that information?" 17 asked.

"Yes. If we flew, it would take us a few minutes."

"I would rather go by air," I told him. "Thanks for telling us. So, 17, why are we going by car?"

"Don't be a spoilsport sis. This is fun," 17 replied. I sighed.

By the time we got there, the car was very low on fuel. Who knew that Goku lived so far away? Leaving the car outside, we didn't waste time barging in. The living room and the kitchen was a mess.

"Well, they're not in the first floor," 17 said as he looked around.

"There's the stairs over there," I said, pointing to the rather obvious stairs between the rooms.

"And a door." To the right of the stairs was a door. I went up the stairs while 17 checked the door. The hallway turned right at the top. I saw at least three doors. I checked the first one which led to a somewhat neat bedroom. The next one had a even neater bedroom, and the last one was a closet. Nobody was up here either. I came down the stairs and notified 16 that I didn't find Goku, or anybody upstairs. 17 came up from the basement confirming that nobody was downstairs. They were missing.

We were stuck. Neither of us knew any other place to look, so we asked 16 if there was any other places they could have gone. He told us other two possible locations. With the car low in fuel and one of the locations on an island, we flew. The first one we picked was the island. It was small, quiet, and peaceful, very removed from people. As we landed, 17 walked up to the door.

* * *

I slept as peacefully as one would sleep with a monster and Androids lose. Yamcha and Tien were also in the living room sleeping with me on separate futons. Chi-Chi took my room, and everyone else who lived in this house slept in their room.

We woke to the sound of a door ripped off the hinge. My bleary eyes had difficulty in making out the figure standing. Soon, I saw Android 17 with amusement on his face. I was frightened out of my wits, and I'm sure Yamcha was too. Tien was the one who maintained his calm and got up with ease.

"Hiya," Android 17 said. "Seems like we dropped by at a bad time. Is Goku here?"

"No he's not. Go somewhere else," Tien responded as he came outside. Yamcha and I followed.

"I confirmed Son Goku is not here," Android 16 said.

"I see," Android 17 replied. "Where is he? Could one of you tell us?"

"Did you really think we would sell out our friend like that?" Tien scowled.

"So, looks like you do know. If you don't tell us now, we'll force you to tell us." We got into battle stances as Android 17 calmly walked up to us. Tien launched his first attack, and Yamcha followed. I would have followed when Chi-Chi was trying to get my attention in the window. She was pointing at the phone and motioned me to come inside. I quickly understood what she said and sneaked away from the battle.

Android 16 and 18 might have noticed me, but they didn't do anything about it. I could only hope Tien and Yamcha could hold on while I''m gone. Yumcha wasn't fairing well compared to Tien. I made it to the kitchen and saw Chi-Chi. "What?" I asked her in a quiet voice.

"Bluma's on the phone. She said that she had found the Androids' weakness," she replied, handing over the phone.

I snatched it and held it close to my ear. "Bluma?"

"Hey, Krillin! I have found their weakness!" she shouted in excitement. I tried to tell her to quiet down but to no avail. "There's an emergency shut down sequence built in them! I already made the remote to activate it!"

"That's wonderful," I told her in hushed tone. "Bring it over quickly! Tien and Yamcha are outside fighting against them and sounds like they could really use my help."

"Okay, I'll be right over." The line went dead. I wasn't kidding when they could use my help. It sounded like a torture session going on outside. I got outside and saw Yamcha under 17's foot, and Tien's arm trapped behind him. Android 17 was slowly pulling the arm upwards to impossible angles. I could only guess that Yamcha might have his spine broken. I locked eyes with 17, and he send a chilling smile.

"Seems like I used too much strength on this poor fool," 17 said, indicating to Yamcha. "He didn't last as long as this guy. He's really stubborn. Tell me where Goku is or I will break your other arm after this one." Tien screamed but said nothing about Goku. "I suspect as much. I hope you're more willing to talk when I'm through with him." I broke in cold sweat when he said that. I definitely can't run or hide.

I seem to have the worst luck to everything. What happened next seemed to be lucky since I didn't get injured like Tien or Yamcha, but the world was in a worst sort of hurt. Guess my luck was in direct relation to the world. This time, I felt the monster above me.

* * *

I felt two ki raised up and one plummet though I couldn't tell why. I had a suspicion that it was the Androids they were fighting and went to check it out. If it were them, my goal of perfection was closer than I thought. I sped across the waters to see if this was true. I don't care if they noticed my presence for I was far too excited.

I arrived to the island with the house taking the most of the island. I found it odd, but why should I care? I landed on the roof and looked down. There was my target, Android 17 and 18 with another Android. Along with them, I saw three humans, one I identified as Krillin from earlier, where one was unconscious, another in pain, and Krillin watching it all. My gleeful chuckle brought all of their attention to me. The shocked and horrified faces belonged to the humans while the Androids looked bored and unamused.

"Who the hell are you, freak?" Android 17 snapped at me. I stayed amused at his poor attempt in riling me up.

"Dr. Gero never bothered to tell you all about me?" I said in mock surprise. "How shocking. Mind telling me where he is?"

"He's dead. I killed him." I felt my amusement die.

"Oh, I see. What a loss."

"Why does that matter? We're better off without him."

"It doesn't matter. I finished my first stage and am ready for morphing into a perfect being."

"Well, don't keep me waiting. Bring it on."

I started to smile. "But you failed to understand, dear 17, I need you and 18 to help me complete it."

"I-what? Why do you need our help?"

I grinned further at his cluelessness. It was probably good on the old man's part not to tell them about me. If they hate Dr. Gero so much to kill him, they wouldn't like what I would have done to them. "Dr. Gero was unable to have me achieve my perfect form without some required assistance. Thus, he programmed both of you to help me achieve it."

"Does that involve beating you to the ground? You're starting to annoy me, freak."

"No, it doesn't. You shall understand what I meant soon enough. As for my name, it isn't Freak."

"Could have fooled me. You look like a freak from nature with that bug-like attire."

"Enough. My name is Cell, and thank you for offering yourself to be the first Android."

"I'm not offering myself! Least of all to you!"

He's rather annoying. "Whatever. Let's move to a larger area. Here's much too crowded to fight properly."

"Can't wait to have you begging for my mercy." Android 17 had dropped the three-eyed human sometime during the conversation and watched me fly off to a nearby island. He along with the two other Androids followed me. Behind them, I sensed Krillin who was keeping his distance. I have no doubt that he would be watching us. By the time he realized what's going on, it would be too late to stop it.

* * *

I have no idea how this happened. I wanted to know more about my father, and the opportunity was just right. Goku told me, my father, and Gohan about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and only two people could go in. It was a perfect way for me to know all about Father within a year for a day! He wanted to use it first, but I didn't care. I was excited about the possibility that I didn't see a wrench to that plan. Gohan wanted to use it as well.

He argued against my father and Goku for his reasons to go in first. My father didn't want "Kakarot's brat" to train in there with him and tried to tell Gohan his valid reasons. They fall flat compared to Gohan's. Gohan was very angry at the monster for killing Piccolo and refused to wait a day. Goku had tried, but Gohan did get his stubbornness from his parents. Plus, Goku and I were worried what would happen if Gohan was forced to wait a day, and Gohan knew that as well. My father, however, did not see it and grew tired of arguing.

He was the one to throw a punch. Gohan may be angry, but he also has good argument skills that didn't require beating the shit of anyone. My father knew he was losing and wanted to prove a point that he should go in. He forgot the raw potential Gohan has despite his lack of practice with Super Saiyan. With him losing on both fronts against Gohan, he left in anger. Goku, being a nice guy he was, let us in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber first.

So, here I was in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Gohan. The first day in, Gohan didn't talk to me at all which worried me. He took a part of the vast endless white to train himself. With nothing better to do, I also trained by myself. After a week, Gohan calmed down enough to talk to me and suggest sparring. We alternated between base and Super Saiyan form during our sparring sessions throughout the year.

After 6 months, Gohan was less angry about Piccolo's death and accepted his own strength to surpass the monster. It was then I discovered that his anger wasn't from Piccolo's death, but rather at himself for not being there with him. Once he accepted the past, he felt more in control of his desire of revenge. I was able to contribute a good portion in changing Gohan to fully accept his warrior side.

Most of it wasn't my help in his training, but stories about Gohan during my time. Young Gohan was very eager to hear about them after those 6 months, and it had an impact in his emotional state. When he learned that Piccolo did die during my timeline had affected Gohan becoming the man who trained me, his mental and emotional state balanced out with his physical state. As the year was coming to a close, we both became stronger and become close.

* * *

**A/N:** Cell verses Android 17 in the next chapter.

I will explain to you why I chose Future Trunks with Gohan in the HTC instead of Trunks and Vegeta or Gohan and Vegeta. If I put Trunks and Vegeta in the HTC, there would not be much different from the cannon except possibly Gohan refusing to sit idle in the look out and attempt to physically leave to kill Cell. Goku would have much trouble in restraining Gohan or be less successful in stopping his son. With Gohan in the state of anger and self-pity/hate, the extra day of waiting to train for a year would further damage him rather than helping.

Then, when it was finally Goku and Gohan's turn in the HTC, Goku would have problems trying to get Gohan to listen to him due to what had happened. Goku would have understood what Gohan was going through due to the death of Krillin earlier at Namek. But, because Gohan was forced to wait and was refused a chance in attacking Cell during the wait period by Goku, it would make him much more resentful of his dad not allowing him to have his chance against Cell. And, it doesn't help that Gohan IS TEN YEARS OLD. Sure, he's intelligent and strong, but his mentality and emotion are not on par with his smarts and power. Therefore, causing conflict between Goku and his son. I can believe Goku could be strict, but Piccolo does a better job of being strict while he was more evil. In fact, in the cannon, Gohan explicitly states that Goku had to put his full effort in the kame-hame wave to achieve his Super Saiyan status. Goku give in and successfully made Gohan a Super Saiyan. But, that off the point.

These simple reasons why Goku and Gohan didn't go in first because:  
1. Vegeta would be upset and annoyed to wait another day while Trunks wouldn't have minded. Plus, Vegeta might not wait and attack Cell anyway resulting the story to be very different than what I intended.  
2. I need Goku to rescue his friends from Semi-Perfect Cell. Otherwise, they most likely be dead.  
3. Gohan may not have gotten stronger emotionally due to the fact Goku is his father and would either be hesitant to completely destroy Cell or rather play Cell than kill him.

The next possibility that I didn't do was Gohan and Vegeta. Actually, I was thinking of doing this before coming to the conclusion Trunks should go with Gohan. Gohan would have a worst physiological torture with Vegeta than Trunks or Goku. This can make Gohan become one of the two possible ways he could have turned out. One possible way would be his guilt and shame could utterly break him and become weaker rather than stronger, over thinking and analyzing rather than doing, and be a shell of his former self for most of his life. The other way it could happen would be Gohan did get stronger, but his mentality may lean towards evil and destruction to obtain his goal. He would know right and wrong, only if he was conscious of his actions. Being half-Saiyan, he may have been suppressing or curbing the Saiyan side due to positive (and some negative) influences. He could very well give in to himself causing the world more harm than Cell would ever do trying to destroy him. Again, not what I want in this story.

That leaves Trunks and Gohan. Trunks actually have a good balance of Goku and Vegeta. He was nice and respectful while knowing what he needed to do. His story of Gohan training and how things affect them makes young Gohan easier to relate to. He wouldn't lose himself with Vegeta because Trunks wouldn't let him, but at the same time Trunks can show how to balance despair and getting things done. That's because Trunks had been experiencing this his whole entire life where as Goku only have a brief time of his life like that, and he bounced back from it way too easily. That behavior of Goku's would confused Gohan or forced him to try to be like his dad and cause issues in the long run. With Trunks's experiences, understanding, and toughness, Gohan would be more stable in most events.

Usually, I don't do long A/N. Mostly because I don't have anything to say. Here, I do have a lot of things to say in regards to the last section. I also have been listening to Nostalgia Critic's reviews on various movies, and Quuman's assessment of DB, DBZ, and DBGT of various questions, plot holes, or explanations. So, that is a partial cause for this long explanation.

Please review to comment anything about the story, criticize my story or the long A/N, or whatever that comes to mind. And, I want to thank two guest going by pio and Cell loving lady and Super Vegetarott for reviewing my first chapter. At this time, I have 1 favorite and 2 followers and 64 views. If you have read all of this so far, thank you very much for reading chapter 2.


	3. Ch 3: Semi-Perfect Cell

**Ch 3: Semi-Perfect Cell****  
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**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DRAGON BALL OR DRAGON BALL Z NOR DO I MAKE A PROFIT FROM THIS STORY. **

**Chemistry-Deaf:** Nice long chapter compared to the first two! That's my only way to apologize for taking a while.  
I will go back to my first two chapters and correct some tenses error and other mistakes.

* * *

I landed on the closest island and turned to face my opponent. He landed a few meters in front of me with 18 and another Android landing behind him. I caught Krillin darting to a outcrop of rocks much further back. He was not my main concern, so I focused on 17. "This is a nice spot to pound you into your grave," 17 said as he smiled. "It would be the last mistake you would ever do against me."

"Aren't you being too confident?" I asked. My tail readied itself next to me.

"Isn't it obvious? I am the ultimate warrior!"

I chuckled. "No, you're not. My perfect being will once I have you and 18's help."

"Ugh, there you go again! Your so-called perfect being is the ultimate warrior? I don't see why we should help you!"

"I'm not asking for your cooperation. I will reach my ultimate goal. Starting with you."

"You're really pissing me off. I'm going to shut you up for good!"

"17!" the Android shouted, halting his attack. "I know who Cell is!" I got nervous. I had no idea who this Android was, but he could ruin my plans unless I do something. I was already in a stance to attack 17 if he tried to escape his destiny. "We cannot allow him to achieve his perfect form! His goal is not to kill Goku but the whole world!"

I have no idea where he got that from.

17 interrupted my thought process by asking, "What's that got to do with anything, 16?"

"You have to destroy him before he completed his goal!" 16 replied.

"I was about to do that when you interrupted me!" In a burst of anger, he launched himself right at me. He was too slow from my perspective, so I easily moved off to the side and below him. His eyes barely followed my movements and missed my right hand becoming a fist. I did an uppercut punch right on 17's stomach as his body flew by. The force of my punch halted his flight as I heard him grunt.

I removed my fist from his stomach and stood. He recovered quicker than I thought and kicked me. He wasn't as powerful as I expected, so I wasn't thrown very far. As I skidded to a stop, 17 leaped at me with a readied fist. I saw him and immediately caught his wrist. The force from his jump caused him to slam into my arm and shoulder. I quickly spun him around before slamming him into a rock face.

The rocks crumbled and fell on him. I waited quietly for him to jump out of the pile. I wasn't disappointed. The close proximity of us gave him a more advantage than me because I was unable to react fast enough. 17's fists smashed my exoskeleton around my stomach area, causing me to arch forward. I ignored the slight pain as I kneed 17's chin and punched him in the face. He stumbled back and rubbed the bruise. I grinned when he glared at me.

He roared as he ran at me. As soon as he launched his attack, I was no longer there. My afterimage faded as his fist passed through, and he searched the area for me. I reappeared behind him and elbowed his exposed back. "Gah!" he shouted. I wasn't done with him. As he propelled forward by my first attack, I followed with my clasped hands slamming him down. Unrelenting, I continued to attack him on the ground with punches and stomps for nearly 30 seconds when a hand touched my shoulder.

Confused, I slowly straightened myself as I turned to see who dared to interrupt me. I saw Android 16 over my shoulder who smiled at me. Unexpectedly, his fist took up half of my vision. I was in a bit of a shock to find that punch actually hurts compared to 17's earlier attempt. Regardless of how much force 16 put in, he only managed to move my upper torso a few inches. My acute ears caught a quiet, nearly undetected noise from 16. I assumed 16 was trying to send me flying and failed by his disappointed tone. My shock turned to annoyance when 16 haven't removed his fist.

Lifting my arm, I smacked it away and kicked him. My sole of my foot stung from the force on apparently fully robotic Android while he skidded a good few meters away from me. The distraction was enough for 17 to lift himself from the hole I pounded him in. I wasn't planning on letting him escape. He glanced at us and his eyes widened. I didn't care what he figured out and jumped up in the air. 16 had tried to hit me again with his detached hand which flew harmlessly by where I was. 17 followed my movement with his head and quickly realized what I was going to do. I heard 16 aiming his second hand to where I was while 17 tried to get up faster.

They were too slow. I landed on my feet hard on 17's back as 16's hand missed me again. 17 cried out from the pain I caused which was music to my ears. I stepped off him and noticed he fell unconscious. I was about to pick him up when 16 threw his whole weight at me. This time, I fell to the ground. Before I could get my bearings, I felt a pair of boots most likely from 16 pushing me into the ground. The weak surface of Earth caved down from the force, and gravity dragged me down with it. Not wanting to be humiliated any longer, I struggled to get up. Faintly, I heard some machine noises and a twin of glowing spheres above me. My eyes widened when I heard 16 shout, "Hell's Flash!"

I endured the powerful blast, unable to do anything. As soon it was over, I laid where the blast pushed me in a daze. Faintly, I heard someone said, "Wow." As I lift my head, I saw the dark underground cavern made by the blast. Various sunlit holes scattered about the dark floor including the one above me. I could try to get 17, but 16 was currently on guard judging by the sound of him walking near where I assume 17 was. That leaves 18. Pushing my ki level to near zero, I walked as quietly as possible. I couldn't sense the Androids, so I used my superior hearing to detect where 18 was.

"You're still there?" That was 16. "I told you to run, 18." His voice grew quieter as I walked away from his location.

"It's ok," 18 replied. I smirked when I identified approximately where she was. "You beaten Cell." She had no idea how wrong she was and for not listening to 16.

"I haven't beaten him!" 16 shouted at her. "He's only got wounded from my blast! It wasn't strong enough to kill him! Now, get away while you still can, 18! I will be right behind you with 17!"

"W-what?" I successfully located the hole where 18 was the closest to and rose up. What I saw made me gleeful. 18's back was to me, and 16 was not looking at my direction as he bent down to retrieve the unconscious 17. My stinger was wide open, ready to suck in 18.

"18!" I heard someone shout behind me. "Look out! Cell's behind you!" It's most likely Krillin who was hiding back there. I completely forgot about that insect. No matter, it was too late. I watched 18 turn as I moved my tail towards her. She screamed as my stinger moved towards her faster than expected. 16 heard Krillin and her scream instantly muffled and turned. He was too far away to make any difference. I laughed at their apparent doom and my one step closer to perfection!

* * *

I stared in terror as the monster called Cell opened his stinger on his tail and swallow her whole. A few seconds ago, I saw Cell rising up from the hole near 18. Before that, I was watching the battle between 17 and 16 against Cell. I haven't exactly believed Trunks when he said the Androids were terrible, and I had started to like 18. Summoning my courage, I jumped up on the rock I was hiding behind and yelled, "18! Look out! Cell's behind you!" I hoped she would get out of the way, but my wish wasn't granted.

Tien had recovered some a while back and arrived during 16's Hell's Flash. We stood on the rock, staring at Cell. He was positively glowing. Soon, the bright light increased, and we had to shield our eyes. As soon as the light died, we removed our arms and hands. Cell's appearance had changed.

His V-shaped head section had darken and connected to the back of his head. The V-shaped had moved to either side of his head. The orange coverage on his mouth was gone. In its place was a mouth lighter than a nearly black-purple design that traced around his eyes, covered where his nose should be, and extend pass his mouth to the orange piece around his jaw to his ears. His eyes were a light blue. The orange dome on top of his head had changed to a dark purple bio-gem. His skin surrounding his face and neck was a light shade of green.

His chest and shoulder exoskeleton have the green darkened. His dark purple bio-gem on his chest had changed shape. It looked like an hourglass with the top wider than the bottom. The formerly orange striped area around his ribs had changed to a light green that slowly changed to a reddish brown where the tail connected to his back. His tail had a dark green top and light green bottom that ended with a tan stinger.

His biceps and upper part of his legs of his exoskeleton was light green. His forearms and lower part of his legs of his exoskeleton was dark green. The cap over his elbows and knees were purple. The other purple exoskeleton was his groin area around a dark green cover. His feet had changed to red-brown boots with a dark purple section on top and two red-brown circles around his ankles. The skin visible between his exoskeleton that was not his face and neck was also red-brown. The black spots have remained on the headdress, the light green parts of his biceps and upper legs.

Cell looked at Android 16 and got ready to move. 16 wasted no time in grabbing 17 and started to flee. Cell wasted no time in staring at them and moved himself right in front of 16. Tien and I could only stare in shock. Just how strong was this guy? I was nervous seeing him twice now and seeing this abomination absorbing 18 and showing off his strength I was in a nervous wreck. Strangely, I had felt something for 18 and seeing her absorbed through the tail by Cell had brought me into anger.

I never liked the fact of how useless I was starting to become. With my new founded determination, I quietly place my hand in the air with the palm facing the sky. I was going to cut down Cell, and he wouldn't knew what hit him! Tien saw what I was doing and gave me room. I kept my eyes trained on Cell and waited.

* * *

I had expected some type of power boost, but that one instance surprised me. I barely managed to stop myself in time before I got too far ahead of 16. Regardless of my near screw up, the face on 16 was more than made up for it. "Seems like running wasn't an option anymore," he muttered.

"Seems like it," I replied in a casual manner. 16 kept an eye on me as he set down 17. It was clear to me I have to get rid of 16 before I could get 17. As soon as 16 let go of 17, he immediately jumped at me with his fist ready. I was in mild surprise by his speed, but I moved my head out of the way. It wasn't hard to see 16's expression changed from determination to what I thought was hopeless surprise. Though, I should have expected a knee to 16's stomach wouldn't phase him, but the force was enough to push him back away from 17.

Ignoring the piece of rubble on the ground and focusing on my target, I advanced. "Now, 17, I'm sure I have room for-" I started to say when my ears caught a high pitch whir. The sound was grating to my ears and it was getting louder. The next thing I saw was my arm cleanly cut flying away from me and a disc of pure white energy also flying away from me. I was struck from behind by a Distructo Disc. I was shocked.

While I was dealing with my pain, I heard Krillin shout to someone, "Tien! Get Cell away from-!" The rest was distorted by the same high pitch whir where a second one cut roughly from the middle of my chest to the edge of my rib cage. My head spun from the pain from my ears and the cut. My distraction provided Tien to kick me away from 17.

The whirs had ended, so I was able to regain myself and regenerate the lost arm and reconnect my torso. Then, I sensed ki was being gathered and noticed Tien above me. I recognized the Tri-beam and was too late in moving out of the way. Unlike the Distructo Disc where the pain was located to the cut, this only merely stunned me. I was unfortunate in the fact Tien continued the attack over and over, making it harder for me to move. I lost count of how many times he used that attack, but it did eventually stop.

I lay in the hole remembering seeing 16 taking his chance and flee with 17. I have no idea which direction he took nor could I sense them. I got up and soothed my sore spots. There were a few minor bruises and scrape on my exoskeleton. Using my ki, I levitated myself up and out of the hole. I could sense Tien's life force was very low and saw Krillin off to my right. He was running to Tien after he fell and stopped when I came up. I wasn't stopped, merely delayed.

I wanted to kill them both for stopping me and allowing 17 to escape. Tien wasn't going anywhere, so the midget was first. Krillin saw me facing him and his face told me that he was aware of how much trouble he was. I could have sent a powerful blast, but it wasn't rewarding to me. Instead, I want to rip him apart. Acting on that thought, I flew towards Krillin. My hands were outstretched, ready to grab a limb, and my face saw orange and dark blue.

My nose-less face crashed into it, effectively halting my attack. As I stopped to check the damage, I saw out of my peripheral vision who he was. Goku had somehow showed up right in front of me. To my credit, I did hit him hard enough for him to stumble back in surprise. "I believe this the first time we met, isn't it Goku?"

"Yeah. That was quite a hit. I wasn't expecting that," Goku replied.

"How about I'll give you a punch for real? Since you showed up literally out of nowhere." I was ready to proceed with my threat.

Goku turned serious. "Back off. I warn you, leave my friends alone."

"And what do you think you can do? You're only slightly stronger than your friends."

"You're right, but I still want to teach you a lesson. For that, I need one more day to become strong enough to go against you. You will pay for your crimes! Your terror on the earth will end!"

"One day? Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm entirely sane."

I stared at him in complete bafflement of what he was saying. "...That just wants me to question you more," I growled. I had enough and jumped at him. Goku caught my intention before I attacked and turned to grab Krillin. Just as I was about to punch him, they were gone. I didn't stay confused for long when I sensed them behind me and turned. There was Goku holding on to Krillin reaching down to grab Tien. "Trying to get away?" I used my fastest speed to cover the short distance. Just like before, Goku had vanished with Krillin and Tien.

I flew passed the space where they were occupying before disappearing and stopped. I do not have an idea where he went and didn't care. I had to find 17! Using my intellect, I figured that 16 would have grabbed 17 and flew away from the battle. That helped narrow down the 360 degree search to less than 180. I took flight to begin my search.

* * *

Ever since I sensed the monster approaching Kame House, I was worried endlessly. I have no idea what was going on, but I was sure that the Androids must have found Kame House first. I was relieved to find that the monster wasn't going to attack my friends at the moment. I could sense him fighting against someone who I assumed to be the Androids. Ever since I was aware of the monster absorbing most of Piccolo, I felt something was off. I couldn't pinpoint it, and things were too hectic for me to think.

Trunks and Gohan were in HTC for nearly a day. I hope Gohan took care of whatever troubles during the course of the year inside. With this monster about, we're already in trouble for not defending Earth as it was. Speaking of the HTC, I wanted Vegeta to return as quickly as possible. We needed to train hard for this, and I have to have him ready.

My spirits rose when I sensed him. He was flying to the Korin's tower beneath us and flying up. "Guess you changed your mind, huh, Vegeta?" I said as the 5'5 Prince of Saiyan came in view.

"Shut it, Kakarrot," Vegeta retorted. "That beast had increased somehow, and it pains me to say it, but I have no hope of beating him like this."

"So, you're reconsidering the HTC? That's great! But, you're going to have to enter with me since Gohan and Trunks went on ahead."

"You're letting them in first?"

"What else can I do? Besides, they will be fine."

"Hmph, fine. You better not slow me down when we get in there."

"Yeah, sure, Vegeta." I broke off when I sensed Krillin's ki and then Tien's. My eyes widened when I realized what Tien was doing. "Oh, no! Tien, stop! You're going to die if you continue!"

"What, Kakarrot?" I heard Vegeta, but I ignored him and used IT.

~At the lookout, Vegeta stared at the space where Goku was. "Damn him! With his vanishing tricks and what not!"~

The moment I got out of hyperspace, I felt a strong impact on my stomach. I wasn't expecting a physical attack when I picked Krillin and felt the monster coming at him. I guess it was pretty stupid on my part, but I managed to protect Krillin, so I didn't care.

I wasn't the kind of guy that judges someone on appearances but one's action. This monster was taller than me and looked like something out of nightmares. "I believe this the first time we met, isn't it Goku?" he said. His voice was deep, almost reminding me of Piccolos' dad, Daimao.

"Yeah. That was quite a hit. I wasn't expecting that," I replied as I rubbed my sore spot.

"How about I'll give you a punch for real? Since you showed up literally out of nowhere." The monster got in his attack stance.

I would have laughed, but the seriousness of the situation prevented me. "Back off. I warn you, leave my friends alone."

"And what do you think you can do? You're only slightly stronger than your friends."

"You're right, but I still want to teach you a lesson. For that, I need one more day to become strong enough to go against you. You will pay for your crimes! Your terror on the earth will end!" I was willing to make sure this monster before me was going to see justice.

"One day? Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm entirely sane." I could see him not believing me, but he would soon understand.

"...That just wants me to question you more." I saw him ready to spring at me. I had to be quick. As I turned around to grab Krillin, I locked to Tien's ki and IT. I had to get them out of here. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him turning around. I was already grabbing Tien's arm when he flew towards me. His speed was incredible, but I had to lock on Vegeta's ki to IT out of there.

I reappeared near Vegeta giving him a bit of a jump. "Mr. Popo! Could you get some senzu beans?" I called to the black genie. I heard him run off to find the bag of senzus Korin probably gave him. Krillin looked mostly worn out while Tien needed them. The moment Mr. Popo came with the beans, I quickly gave Tien one.

As that was happening, Krillin was off in a rambling panic. "It was awful, Goku! Cell was stronger than we thought and fought evenly with 17! 16 barely managed to hold him off when he sneakily absorbed 18! I can't believe he absorbed 18! Then, Tien and I managed to hold him off until 16 escaped with an unconscious 17! It was terrible! I bet he's going after them now! We can't let him! We cannot let Cell absorb 17! The world is already doomed as it is!"

"Krillin!" I shouted to calm him. Any longer, he might shut down. "What's going on?"

"Cell, Goku! Cell's the name of that monster you just saw! He's trying to achieve perfect form by absorbing in 17 and 18. He already got 18!" Krillin had to stop to catch his breath.

I was conflicted. I knew it was a bad idea to allow Cell to absorb 17 based on how much increase he got after 18, but my desire for a challenge was making it harder. "That's bad. Really bad. I wonder how strong he would be after absorbing 17."

"No, Goku! We can't-!"

"How strong?" Vegeta cut in. That's right, he liked a challenge as well.

"What?" Krillin was in disbelief how our conversation was going. We were interrupted by two very strong but controlled ki. It was the two blond Super Saiyan teens walking out of the HTC.

* * *

**A/N:** Next chapter, Trunks had a flashback about his conversation with Gohan prior to leaving the HTC. Cell continued to search for 17 and will face the first opponent that would threaten his existence. Soon, it would be a race against the clock!

Plus, 18 did change her clothes (not sure when since it was awhile), but I couldn't place it anywhere here (the best spot would be Son's house or the city), but I guess it mattered little.


End file.
